Actually, I received it on Christmas Eve. We had ordered it from Apple and it arrived a bit early. Unfortunately, the one we received was scratched. Jordan ran over the Apple Store (the physical one) and was able to exchange it for another one. That one was scratched, too! So he got a third one. Third time’s a charm!

I finally have some time! A much needed two-week break. I *plan* on doing some sewing this holiday break and some blogging and some relaxing and some reading . . . we’ll see how it all goes with two little ones under foot!

Plus, I’ve been trying to spend time on this little side business, Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s an awesome resource for teachers, but I don’t really want to inundate this (crafting) blog with teaching resources. That’s what the teaching blog is for. I am blogging much more over there these days, but that is what my life is consumed with, it seems, work.

However, I was able to get in a bit of sewing today! When the new iPad minis went on sale last month, Jordan was one of the first to grab one. Actually, Fed Ex dropped it by our house. He’s been patiently waiting for a new iPad case to fit his new toy and I finally made one for him today.

I got some sewing time in this afternoon! Albeit, only about thirty minutes without the baby, then about an hour and a half until the toddler woke up. But, it was some sewing time!

We are leaving for an international trip soon and needed something for all of our passports. Since there are now four of us in our family, Amber’s Passport Wallet was the perfect thing. Her blog is One Shabby Chick. She has some great patterns and this was one of them.

My ironing board was in sore need of a new cover. It was ripped in quite a few places and my iron kept getting hung up on the holes.

I'd planned on making an elaborate cover with either elastic or ribbon to cinch down the edges. But, when I turned my ironing board over to use it as a template to cut the fabric, I realized that the original cover was simply stapled down. I figured, "why not?". It seemed easier, and it was. This is really a low-sew method.

I simply cut about a three-inch perimeter of fabric around the board and stapled it in place, folding and using a few mroe staples at the curves. I did sew two pieces of fabric together, to make a more interesting cover, but other than that, not much sewing took place.

I meant to post more often during the holidays, but time got away from me. I did manage to squeak out a few projects, both small and large, which I'll post about over the next few days. We had lots of fun time with family and friends, and we're still looking forward to a few more events this weekend to round out 2011.

The first project, a small one, is a draw string bag with a window. The tutorial is in the link. It's my go to draw string bag at the moment, perfect for kids, since they can see what it in the bag.

Last year I decided to try not to wrap presents with wrapping paper. This decision came about partly because of the cost, but also because of the environmental impact. Plus, who doesn't like another bag to be able to store things in. So, the bag has become part of the gift.

This year, I managed to make two bags (we don't give a lot of gifts in our family). Both the bags were for kids and intended to help "store" their present. Liam also got a bag, but I finished it several weeks prior to the holiday and birthday. Liam's favorite thing right now are cars. We'll be in a parking lot walking into the grocery store and he'll point and say "car, car, car." Yes, we're in a parking lot. There are lots of cars.

Two of the bags were for Liam's second cousins, one for a birthday, the other for Christmas. I tried to find fabric that matched the theme of the gift. If you can't tell, it's doll clothes and trains.

Add a little tissue paper and the "gift" is kept a secret until opening. We've made several bags for Liam to keep his mega blocks and cars. They're perfect for clean up and storage.

The rest of our gifts were wrapped with paper, but seeing as how I still had a lot of paper left over from previous years, I'm not feeling too guilty.

Hope you all had a happy holiday and are looking forward to the new year!

This past weekend was all about finishing projects, including blocks for swaps and a gift for an upcoming birthday.

This tool came in handy. It's a Bias Tape Maker. They come in various sizes for different widths of tape.

I've made a vow to not buy any more wrapping material. Despite the fact that I have a ton of it stuck in a box underneath the bed in our guest room (who doesn't), it's not the most environmentally conscious.

Instead, I'm making fabric gift bags. One, they look cool, but, two, they're reusable for other gifts or any other application. The gift bags all have a drawstring closure of some sort, so I figured a few of these tools might come to good use. I made a gift bag in under an hour this morning, and the bias tape maker definitely made it go faster.

As for this particular gift bag, you'll have to wait until next week to see it.

I have so many "to do" lists between home and work. Even the home list has crafting and home improvement things on it. Unfortunately, the lists aren't tangible lists, but are rattling around in my head, taking up space. Not that I don't have enough space. However, I need to organize it somehow. Here are my crafting to do items. Some of these haven't even been started, so this also serves as an inspiration board of sorts.